South East London blogzine - things that are happening, things that happened, things that should never have happened. New Cross, Brockley, Deptford and other beauty spots. EMAIL US: transpontineblog at gmail.com Transpontine: 'on the other (i.e. the south) side of the bridges over the Thames; pertaining to or like the lurid melodrama played in theatres there in the 19th century'.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Winter Solstice - On Snow Hill

Today is the Winter Solstice in case you didn't know, and here's a seasonal song to go with it.

Snow Hill is in Greenwich Park. This song was inspired by a talk on Greenwich Park given by Jack Gale for South East London Folklore Society. It was first sung at a SELFS Yule event at the Royal George in Tanners Hill in 2006, and in a few other places since including the Old Kings Head in Borough High Street and most memorably at a Winter Solstice event in Greenwich Park itself.

I have performed the song in various musical incarnations, including my most recent project Half a Person, but originally did so as Neil Transpontine. You can download a demo version of the song here if you wonder how the tune goes.

On Snow Hill

The moon is full, lets bathe in its milky lightLets make like foxes in the nightI know the ground is hard and its cold outsideBut you’re hot enough for both of us, on this winters night

Beneath our feet, long gone lovers lieThe London clay has long since filled their eyesThey long to look up on that patch of skyThat looks down from high, on you and I

Stars are shining above Snow HillReflected like diamonds in the frozen wellSome say the Snow Queen, she waits here stillWaiting until, lovers slide in the snow on Snow Hill

The wind cuts through you like an icy bladeSlicing the last leaves from the trees in the old oak gladeMaking a carpet where we can lay till the break of dayIt would be rude not to use what the seasons made

Stars are shining above Snow HillReflected like diamonds in the frozen wellSome say the Snow Queen, she waits here stillWaiting until, lovers slide in the snow on Snow Hill

Is anyone interested in getting together in the New Year to sing and play folk/acoustic music with a particular focus on songs linked to South London (covers and new material)? Whether it leads to an ongoing band or not would be open ended, but the aim would be to get at least a few songs together to perform by the time of Brockley Max festival in June 2010. Email if interested, I will post more details shortly.

3 comments:

Sounds like a great idea for B Max 2010. If you're not on the email list, send me a message via the address on the B Max webpage and I'll add you to my email list so that you don't miss out on performing.

Walking past Brockley Social Club yesterday I noticed that there was a film shoot in progress. Quick bit of investigation - OK I looked at ...

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